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Telling Sarah Palin's story: Two authors collide

February 23, 2011 | 10:28
am

In one corner: Frank Bailey, a former aide to Sarah Palin, said to be writing a critical biography of her. In the opposing corner: Joe McGinniss, author of "The Selling of the President 1968" and recent Alaskan neighbor of Sarah Palin, writing his own book. In the middle: a pre-publication manuscript and a cease-and-desist letter.

The contents of the Bailey manuscript were first reported by the Anchorage Daily News, which said that McGinniss had provided the paper with a copy. The Daily News said that in the manuscript, which was reportedly compiled from e-mail messages sent by Palin, the former Alaska governor complained that she hated her job shortly before she resigned in 2009.

McGinniss' agent, Dave Larabell, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that McGinniss wasn't the only person in the publishing world to see the manuscript.

On Tuesday, Bailey co-author Ken Morris posted an online version of a cease-and-desist letter to McGinniss, from Morris, Bailey and third co-author Jeanne Devon.

McGinniss moved to Alaska -- next door to Sarah Palin -- to work on his biography. Husband Todd built a 14-foot fence between the properties, and Sarah Palin was not amused. "Wonder what kind of material he'll gather while overlooking Piper's bedroom, my little garden, and the family's swimming hole?" she wrote on her Facebook page.

McGinniss, who has written books about politics and true crime, will publish "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin" with Broadway Books in September.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Sarah Palin at a rally in Anaheim in October. Credit: Associated Press